At Quincy forum, parents, police urge state to do more to help addicts

Tuesday

Jun 24, 2014 at 4:00 AM

Christian Schiavone The Patriot Ledger @CSchiavo_Ledger

QUINCY – John McCone’s niece knew how to game the system.

She had been using drugs since her late teens, McCone said, and refused all treatment during a brief stay in jail. Days after she was released last summer, the 33-year-old was found dead of an overdose of a cocktail of drugs including heroin in the hallway of a South Boston housing project.

On Monday, McCone was one of dozens of parents, health and addiction experts, community advocates, police and prosecutors who urged the state Department of Public Health to make it easier for addicts to get into treatment and stay there.

“It’s important for people to speak up about this,” McCone said, adding that he knows 10 families who have lost a member to an overdose. “I don’t think people understand the gravity of it.”

The forum at the Thomas Crane Library was hosted by Public Health Commissioner Cheryl Bartlett. It was the fourth in a series of opportunities for the public to weigh in on the growing heroin and opiate problem as the state rolls out new measures to try to stem the flow of addicts into emergency rooms, jail cells and morgues.

In March, Gov. Deval Patrick declared a public health emergency because of the number of overdose deaths from heroin and related drugs called opioids. As part of the declaration, the governor took steps long called for by police, prosecutors and public officials on the South Shore and elsewhere.

Those steps included making the overdose-reversing drug naloxone, also known as Narcan, more readily available for the public and first responders; tightening requirements for prescribers to use a database designed to track doctor shoppers; and dedicating $20 million to expand treatment programs.

Earlier this month, a task force formed by the governor recommended additional measures, including having the Department of Public Health keep a real-time list of available treatment beds, forcing health insurers to cover more addiction treatment and working with other New England governors to combine efforts across state lines.

But several attendees said more should be done to help addicts navigate an often cumbersome process to get help when they most need it, and to prevent young people from dabbling in prescription medications only to fall into heroin addiction.

Stoughton Police Chief Paul Shastany said there should be more drug courts to channel drug offenders into treatment instead of locking them up repeatedly.

“We don’t equip them with any of the tools to get recovered,” he said. “Why do we keep repeating the same steps and expect a different outcome?”

There were 61 overdose deaths in Norfolk County last year, according to the district attorney’s office, though it acknowledges that number is likely underreported because it doesn’t include hospital deaths. Statewide, 668 people died of accidental opioid overdoses in 2012, a 10 percent jump from the previous year, according to the Department of Public Health.

Norfolk County Sheriff Michael Bellotti said minimum mandatory sentences have made it difficult to shift defendants into treatment programs as they approach their release date.

Parent Julie Devereaux, whose son is a recovering addict, said addicts shouldn’t be going to jail in the first place.

“There are plenty of (treatment) beds. They’re in jails,” she said. “Why was my son in prison for a month when he had an addiction issue? Why is any kid in prison when they have an addiction issue? It’s a health issue. We need to turn that around.”

Bartlett, the public health commissioner, said the feedback at the forum was similar to what she’s heard before, and that the department is already working to implement some of the suggestions and will look at others.

“This is a community problem, not just an individual problem,” she said. “It’s really affecting all of us. It’s no longer somebody else’s problem.”

Christian Schiavone is at cschiavone@ledger.com or follow him on Twitter @CSchiavo_Ledger.